Six-year-old Johnny Warvaiski went looking for something to chop with his small hatchet.
He found what appeared to be an ordinary object and struck it without knowing that it was a cartridge of dynamite.
The resulting explosion shook nearby houses and left the child with devastating injuries to his eyes, face, and arms. Doctors held little hope that he would survive.
Hatchet Hits Dynamite
ELIZABETH, New Jersey. — Johnny Warvaiski, 6 years old, got out his hatchet and, looking for something to chop, unsuspectedly drove it into a dynamite cartridge.
Both his eyes were blown out, face and arms mangled.
Dynamite Used in Field Clearing
The explosion shook many houses in the neighborhood.
The boy will probably die.
Source: Scott County Kicker. Benton, Mo. March 5, 1910.
